Thesis Advisory Committee Meeting (TAC)

The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) is a group of faculty members and experts that provide guidance and feedback to doctoral candidates yearly in the TAC meetings during the thesis research. The TAC plays a crucial role in ensuring the qualtiy, monitoring the progress and giving external advice to the PhD candidate and the supervisor(s). Moreover, the TAC offers formalized support and mentorship, and a ‘protected space’ to resolve possible conflicts or challenges and give feedback for individual career development.

WHO

  • the PhD candidate
  • a VDS CoBeNe representative serving as chair (Katja Hellekes, Tamara Tapaj or Julia Reiter, depending on availabilities)
  • the supervisor(s)
  • the two mentors:
    i) at least one CoBeNe faculty member familiar with the topic but not involved in the PhD studies,
    ii) an expert who can be also a non-CoBeNe faculty member or from another discipline and/or university

Criteria you might consider in selecting your mentors:

  • Expertise
  • Independence of the project
  • Availability
  • Diversity of Perspectives
  • Good Working Relationship
  • Networking
  • possible Reference for job applications

Your tasks as a PhD Candidate

Before the meeting: 

  • Fill in the form you can download below (only the page that is marked to be filled in by you) and send it to the CoBeNe office member who is taking over your TAC ahead of the meeting.
  • Organize the meeting (send an e-mail to everyone with a doodle/termino link for finding an appointment; see below in the "organization" box.
  • If the meeting is online: Be sure everyone receives the zoom link ahead of time.
  • Think about what you want to get out of this particular meeting. The meetings are limited to 1 hour, which is often quite short. To make the most of it, choose what you want to focus on - is there a specific paper you're struggling with? Do you want advice on the direction of your plans? Are you near the end of your PhD and want advice on how to select your defense reviewers and how to find a post doc position or secure funding? Thinking about your needs ahead of time will help you structure the meeting to your advantage.
  • Prepare a presentation. It should give an overview of your dissertation, your plans and current state of project(s), and any other activities you find important to mention (e.g. teaching, conferences). If it is your first TAC meeting, be sure to be comprehensive, as your mentors know nothing about your project yet. At later meetings, they will remember this information and you can be more focused on specifics. 

During the meeting: 

  • Give your presentation - be sure to stick to the 15 minutes - the longer you take, the less advice you can receive. 
  • Let the committee know about any specific questions you wish to focus on.

After the meeting: 

  • The CoBeNe office member will complete the form you sent in beforehand and will return it to you, so that you have notes of the questions, comments and feedback you got during the meeting. 
  • Follow up on any suggestions made during the meeting (such as courses to attend etc.)

Your role and tasks as a supervisor

Once a year, you will be asked to attend your PhD Candidate's TAC Meeting. During the meeting, the PhD will give a presentation about their current progress and any specific issues they might want the committee's input on. 

 

After the presentation and the committee members' feedback to it, there are separate conversations with the PhD and the committee (during which time you will be asked to step outside) and with you and the committee (during which time the PhD will be asked to step outside). In this separate meeting, you will be asked

  • to evaluate the PhD's current progress on a quantitative scale along the dimensions of communication, critical thinking and insight, general knowledge on the topic, research methods, motivation, and independence
  • about your general satisfaction with the project's progress at this point
  • about the PhD's teaching and supervision load, if applicable
  • about any specific recommendations or support offers you may have for the PhD (e.g., that they take a specific methods course, a writing workshop, that they go abroad for a lab visit, etc.)
  • about space in the project for the PhD's own ideas

 

 

Your role and tasks as a mentor / committee member

If a PhD Candidate asks you to join their Thesis Advisory Committee, you will be asked to attend one meeting per year (the TAC meeting). This will be organized by the PhD, taking place either in person or via Zoom depending on preference. What happens in between those meetings depends on what you are willing to offer in accordance with the PhD - for example, it can be helpful to be available for a chat about a specific paper in between TAC meetings, or for the occasional question for advice via e-mail. Sometimes, collaborations can also develop from TACs. 

 

During the meeting, you will be asked to 

  • provide your thoughts on, feedback on, and questions about the contents of the PhD Candidate's presentation
  • give advice if the PhD Candidate has asked any specific questions 
  • particularly at the later TAC meetings, as the PhD approaches graduation, give advice about the academic job market (or alternatives), funding options, strategies for finding a suitable post doc postiion, etc. 

After the PhD's presentation and your feedback to that, there will be two separate sessions - first, one with the supervisor, during which the PhD will be asked to step outside, and then with the PhD, during which the supervisor will be asked to step outside. You will be present during both sessions, in which the supervisor's and the PhD's satisfaction with the current progress of the project and any specific issues they may want help with will be discussed independently. You will also be asked to advise here as needed. 

 

 

The role as a Thesis Advisory Committee member is independent of any other roles, such as reviewer for the final dissertation. That is, your "job" will not generally extend beyond the yearly meetings and occasional advice via e-mail in between as needed unless you actively choose so.

When

  • The TAC meeting should be scheduled every year.
  • First TAC meeting can be used in preparation for the Public Presentation (FÖP) or planned independently.

Where

  • You can organize your TAC meeting online (e.g via Zoom) or in person. For in person meetings please book a room. In general, we do not recommend hybrid meetings.

Organization and structure of the meeting

  • Please send an email to all participants, including your supervisor(s), mentors and vds.cobene@univie.ac.at with a link for possible appointments so everyone can fill in their availabilities (e.g. use termino or doodle). It is helpful to ask your supervisor(s) for several possible dates in advance.
  • The meeting needs to be scheduled for ONE hour. Please prepare your presentation in the duration of 15 minutes.
  • In your presentation, please:
    • Provide information on the theoretical background of your project
    • State your hypothesis and planned studies
    • Show (first) results or point out difficulties
    • Explain the next steps
    • Include a Timetable (e.g. Gantt chart)
    • Give an overview of your achievements of the last year (e.g. conferences, courses, publications)
  • After the 15 min presentation there will be a Q&A part, for scientific feedback from the committee.
  • The last 20 minutes of the meeting are dedicated to private sessions (one with the supervisor(s), the other with the PhD candidate)
  • In the end there will be a summary